Share This Story!

Karl Dean gives plan for Megasite in Brownsville

Democratic Gubernatorial candidate Karl Dean stood in front of a gathering of about 100 supporters in Haywood County on Tuesday and discussed a variety of topics that were all connected to a central topic that is important to voters in West Tennessee.

A spectator places their hand on the door to close it quietly while entering during a town hall attended by Democratic gubernatorial candidate Karl Dean at Brownsville Family Restaurant in Brownsville, Tenn., on Tuesday, Sept. 4, 2018. HENRY TAYLOR/The Jackson Sun

A woman that moved to Tennessee from Wisconsin poses a question about littering and keeping roads clean at a town hall attended by Democratic gubernatorial candidate Karl Dean at Brownsville Family Restaurant in Brownsville, Tenn., on Tuesday, Sept. 4, 2018. HENRY TAYLOR/The Jackson Sun

Meryl Rice, a Whiteville resident, writes a question down on a small slip of paper that could be posed to Democratic gubernatorial candidate Karl Dean at a town hall at Brownsville Family Restaurant in Brownsville, Tenn., on Tuesday, Sept. 4, 2018. HENRY TAYLOR/The Jackson Sun

Crowd members gathered from around West Tennessee listen o Democratic gubernatorial candidate Karl Dean answer questions from the public at a town hall at Brownsville Family Restaurant in Brownsville, Tenn., on Tuesday, Sept. 4, 2018. HENRY TAYLOR/The Jackson Sun

A pin can be seen on the jacket of Democratic gubernatorial candidate Karl Dean at a town hall at Brownsville Family Restaurant in Brownsville, Tenn., on Tuesday, Sept. 4, 2018. HENRY TAYLOR/The Jackson Sun

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Karl Dean speaks to the crowd that has gathered for a town hall at Brownsville Family Restaurant in Brownsville, Tenn., on Tuesday, Sept. 4, 2018. HENRY TAYLOR/The Jackson Sun

BROWNSVILLE — Democratic Gubernatorial candidate Karl Dean stood in front of a gathering of about 100 supporters in Haywood County on Tuesday and discussed a variety of topics all connected to a central topic important to voters in West Tennessee.

He spoke of how to get a large employer to build on the Memphis Regional Megasite.

“First of all, everyone needs to know I support the Megasite and getting an employer to occupy that space,” Dean said. “I think it would be a solution to a number of problems, including the fact that 15 of 21 counties are losing population.

“But it will take more than the efforts to attract an employer and getting the site shovel-ready to get someone here.”

Dean’s plan included attacking two more critical issues in Haywood County and the surrounding area to make the site more viable for a business to locate there.

“The Megasite just lost out earlier this year on a company that located in Huntsville (Alabama), and they also passed up on a site in North Carolina, too,” Dean said. “I was told that the North Carolina bid had better incentives to attract them, but what sold them on Huntsville was the workforce being ready to work.

“And we need to make sure the workforce here in West Tennessee is able to work at the Megasite. We’ve got to get our kids better prepared for college and help more students earn college degrees. But we also need to realize college isn’t for everybody, so we need to make sure everyone has access to proper trade schools and training.”

Dean mentioned how electricians and plumbers are important jobs, and will continue to be.

Buy Photo

Crowd members gathered from around West Tennessee listen o Democratic gubernatorial candidate Karl Dean answer questions from the public at a town hall at Brownsville Family Restaurant in Brownsville, Tenn., on Tuesday, Sept. 4, 2018.(Photo: HENRY TAYLOR/The Jackson Sun)

“We all need plumbers and electricians, but the average age of both of them in Tennessee is in the 50s,” Dean said. “And they make good money, and we need to make sure our state has plenty of people to handle those necessary jobs.”

The other part of that plan included attacking an issue that’s important statewide but has hit Haywood County hard in the last couple years.

“Eleven hospitals across Tennessee have closed in recent years in rural areas, and y’all have seen that as well as anybody,” Dean said. “Hospitals in Nashville and Memphis and the metro areas are struggling because of the patients that can’t pay their bills, but they’re not closing.

“The ones in rural areas are closing because that’s a bigger hit to them when patients can’t pay their bills. And it’s hard to attract businesses to a place if there’s no health care. Failing to expand Medicaid a couple years ago was the biggest mistake our legislature has made in years, and we’ve lost between $4.5 and $5 billion in funding because of it. The people of Tennessee want it, and I’ll fight for it if I’m elected governor.”

Reach Brandon Shields at bjshields@jacksonsun.com or at 731-425-9751. Follow him on Twitter @JSEditorBrandon or on Instagram at editorbrandon.

Buy Photo

Audience members laugh after Democratic gubernatorial candidate Karl Dean cracks a joke at a town hall at Brownsville Family Restaurant in Brownsville, Tenn., on Tuesday, Sept. 4, 2018.(Photo: HENRY TAYLOR/The Jackson Sun)